


Lunar Specialty Coffee

by sujiverse



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, one-shot collection... maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 09:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18848404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sujiverse/pseuds/sujiverse
Summary: Lunar Specialty Coffee is a bit of an oddity.They’re not quite the nostalgic hole-in-the-wall establishment, not quite the trendy hipster cafe with an aesthetic blog to go with it, not quite the franchise Starbucks is. They're just a quiet little coffeehouse sitting at the corner of a fairly deserted street.





	Lunar Specialty Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> first up in this sitcom alternatively called "The Coffeehouse Lesbians",,, protagonist jungeun and the trials and tribulations of making a drink she hates drinking for a living. may or may not be based on my experiences as a grumpy, loveless, coffee-hating barista. enjoy!!

Coffee is an acquired taste. A lot of people hate it. A lot like it, a smaller minority love it, but an even rarer breed is of the ones who appreciate it. And even out of those who drink coffee regularly, they have vastly different preferences. Some like theirs strong. Some, not so much. Some like the bitterness, while others want it diluted with sugar, or iced water, or cream. Some can’t even stomach one without shaking into oblivion. Some drink three mugs and still sleep soundly at night.

 

Jungeun doesn’t drink coffee at all.

 

She’s a barista who hates drinking coffee, an irony many can’t wrap their heads around. The only coffee she takes is a sip of the espresso she has to taste in order to ensure she’s making decently-tasting coffee before the morning starts, but that’s where and when she calls it a day. She still makes a fantastic career out of what she does, though.

 

Sooyoung considers her a grumpy and cranky figure to work with, and never lets a day pass without telling Jungeun that she is sorely in need of a coffee. To be fair, Sooyoung is right. Jungeun is more often lacking in the energy department than she is not, her late nights causing her tiredness to spill over into the next day.

 

But here’s the thing: it’s not that Jungeun can’t drink coffee. She’s not caffeine-intolerant. She just hates-- no, that’s not a strong enough word. She _detests_ the taste of it. She’s _grossed out_ by it. Absolutely _abhorred_ by it. The bitterness of the espresso is so jarring that it almost serves the same purpose as the caffeine itself to jolt her awake. Jungeun drinks her coffee like she would cough syrup-- with lots of dread, in small amounts, and with a large jug of water beside her to wash it down.

 

“Even Jiwoo drinks coffee,” Sooyoung tells her one day. Jungeun shoots her a glare, the insult not lost in translation. Jiwoo is basically a child-- a devourer of skittles the same way she is a consumer of rice.

 

"Fuck you,” Jungeun replies, staring Sooyoung dead in the eye as she slurps the drink she’d bought on her way over. Chocolate milk tea, less ice, 100% sugar level, and three times the normal amount of pearls. Fuck Sooyoung, and fuck coffee. "She only drinks it because you make it for a living.”

 

"One, you’re wrong. And two, you’re a loveless human being, Kim Jungeun.” Sooyoung shakes her head. Jiwoo enters the cafe that very moment as if to make a point, and Jungeun watches as a sickeningly sweet smile makes its way up from Sooyoung’s lips, to her cheekbones, her eyes, and now even her damn forehead is smiling. It’s kind of cute, the way Sooyoung only beams at Jiwoo like that. Jiwoo returns it with very Jiwoo smile of hers, but even then, Jungeun can tell that some of that smile-- like the sincerity in her eyes and the blush in her cheeks-- could only be reserved for someone extremely special in her life.

 

As that thought ends, the two proceed to share a kiss right in front of her, and Jungeun is back to being a grumpy, loveless, coffee-hating barista.

 

She wordlessly offers her drink to her best friend as a greeting, getting an excited squeal in return. Jiwoo takes a sip of the thing, and then, to Jungeun’s absolute horror, pulls a face.

 

"I don’t remember that being so sweet!”

 

"The coffee must be changing your tastes, babe. I would say it’s for the better. That thing’s gonna give your stupid best friend diabetes one day.”

 

Jungeun furrows her eyebrows, staring at the concoction in her hands. She hasn’t changed her usual at Gongcha since she met Jiwoo. That’s a whole ten years ago. That’s ten years of drinking the same milk tea. Ten goddamn years of Jiwoo stealing mouthfuls of her drink.

 

Coffee must be one hell of a drug.

 

"Don’t call her stupid,” Jiwoo scolds Sooyoung. Okay, not that much of a drug. Jiwoo’s still sweet and loyal. “Call her dumb!” Scratch all that. Fuck Jiwoo, and fuck coffee.

 

Sooyoung laughs in her face as she starts making Jiwoo’s stupid and dumb cappuccino.

 

"I was just telling Sooyoung that you only drink coffee because she makes it for you. Tell her I’m right.”

 

Jiwoo doesn’t even look away from Sooyoung’s working form when she answers, "You’re not, though.”

 

“Kim Jiwoo!” That’s the sound of resounding and irreversible hurt, stemming from a resounding and irreversible betrayal.

 

"What!? I like coffee now… I made one for myself at work today. You guys make it way better over here though.”

 

They’re a specialty coffee chain. Of course they make good coffee. Jungeun still narrows her eyes at that, scowling.

 

"Ten years down the drain, just like that. Are you happy now? You’ve completely ruined our friendship.”

 

"When you fall in love with a coffee lover, you’ll understand why you’ll always be second to coffee in their eyes.”

 

"That’s not true!” Sooyoung protests, facing them to make her point. She’s dead serious when she replies, "I love you more than I love coffee.”

 

"I know, baby,” Jiwoo replies with a soft laugh. "I was just exaggerating.”

 

"Okay, good.” Reassured, Sooyoung turns back. Jungeun rolls her eyes at the way her ears have turned a little pink from that brief exchange.

 

Perhaps she is loveless, Jungeun thinks, watching Jiwoo get a little bit of a foam mustache from drinking the coffee. Sooyoung leans across the counter, lips-first. Jungeun just groans.

 

* * *

 

Lunar Specialty Coffee is a bit of an oddity.

 

They’re not quite the nostalgic hole-in-the-wall establishment, not quite the trendy hipster cafe with an aesthetic blog to go with it, not quite the franchise Starbucks is. They’re just a quiet little coffeehouse sitting at the corner of a fairly deserted street. Customers come in waves in the morning, clientele is made up of regulars, and walk-ins don’t come by often.

 

Jungeun isn’t paid handsomely for her job. She isn’t even paid fairly, honestly-- Jinsoul loves to guilt trip her into working up new recipes and drinks in her free time without clocking in overtime hours. It sucks, but it also doesn’t, because she’s invested in it now.

 

Literally, figuratively, and every other sense of the word. Bottomline, she’s invested in the Jinsoul’s little pet project that has turned into a decently-popular coffeehouse. But that wasn’t always the case. When her childhood best friend first came to her with the business idea that was Lunar Specialty Coffee, she had laughed it off.  

 

_"A coffeehouse is too hard to run, idiot.”_

 

_"Not if I have you running it.”_

 

_"Hah, absolutely not.”_

 

Well, jokes on her. She’s basically running it now. Jinsoul comes by once a week in between getting a degree in business management, playing keyboard in some indie band, and inventing new menu items for the coffeehouse. _It’s a coffeehouse,_ Jungeun tells her. _We just need good coffee._

 

 _That’s not how growing a business works, honey,_ Jinsoul tells her back.

 

She could see how Jinsoul, avid coffee lover, would open a coffeehouse. But not knowing anything about coffee other than how good it presumably is? Jungeun looks down on her for that. She might not be a coffee extraordinaire, or a coffee snob, or even a coffee drinker, but she’ll judge Jinsoul for chugging a can of Nespresso no matter the situation.

 

Jungeun might hate drinking coffee, sure, but she’ll love the art of the gross bean water and every single painstaking step of making it into an enjoyable drink till it stops being fun.

 

At this point, she’s resigned that she’ll never make it to the bottom of a glass of espresso. And that’s okay for her. As the legendary Professor Tox says, "Just be who you are.” Jungeun takes that advice to heart.

 

She doesn’t expect her turning point in her coffee-hating career to come in the form of a tight voice saying: "A double espresso, please.”

 

She’s alone, apt for a slow day at the cafe. It’s a weekday afternoon after all. A rainy one, at that.

 

That is, until, someone stumbles in thirty minutes before she’s about to close up the store.

 

"Hey, you alright?” Jungeun asks in concern. The girl, doubled over the counter with short hair obscuring half her face, makes for a shocking visual. Lots of unkempt people usually come in for their morning coffee, yes, but never looking this disheveled. The girl wasn’t carrying an umbrella when she walked in, and is currently dripping all over the floor. Jungeun couldn’t care less about the state of the floor-- not when the customer had came in looking like she’d just fought the God of Rain and ended up at the wrong end of an unbalanced fight.

 

Absolutely beaten. That’s what the girl looks like she is.

 

"Yeah, I just…” She wheezes, four thousand won clumsily brandished from her pocket. “My coffee. Just make it, please.”

 

Jungeun obliges. Her confusion overrides the part of her brain that usually scoffs in disgust at anyone who orders a double espresso.

 

While waiting for the silky brown liquid to drip, Jungeun hands her a warm cup of water.

 

Now it’s the girl’s turn to look up in confusion.

 

"It’s freezing outside, isn’t it?” her customer service voice seems to bring some normalcy to the situation. The girl smiles, maybe even gratefully.

 

"It is,” she sniffs in between gulps of water, "So fucking cold.”

 

Jungeun tries a comforting smile, but the girl is hunched back over. The next time Jungeun sees her eyes is thirty seconds later, when the espresso is ready.

 

"Thank you,” is all she says before drinking it all in one go. "Thank you. That was really good.”

 

Jungeun finds herself speechless at the puffy-eyed woman. "Have a nice day, miss,” comes her programmed response to the retreating figure.

 

"You too,” the figure calls back, softly, and with a little laugh. It sounds strained. She walks back out into the rain, and Jungeun feels almost compelled to go give her an umbrella.

 

The barista turns back to the coffee machine. _That was strange._ She presses the button that grinds the coffee beans, unsettled. Her movements come practiced, almost robotic.

 

She stops herself only when she realises she’s just made herself a double espresso.

 

Lifting the glass slowly, Jungeun brings her lips to the espresso tentatively, afraid to scald herself. She sips on the hot drink, but doesn’t immediately reach for her water-bottle like she typically does. She momentarily forgets her supposed distaste for coffee, the bitterness an afterthought to that intriguing, beautiful, crying woman.

 

She throws the rest of it away.

 

* * *

 

Jungeun honestly doesn’t think much of the times she’s witnessed half-filled (or worse, completely-filled) mugs of coffee being left behind. Perhaps her ego is a little bruised knowing that her coffee wasn’t good enough to convert someone else into a coffee lover, but then again, her coffee wasn’t good enough to convert herself into a fan, so what gives? Besides, people aren’t that conscious of whatever they’re wasting when it’s something like coffee; it goes bad within an hour, and eases their guilt. Maybe.

 

But man, oh man. Watching Sooyoung pour perfectly good milk down the drain reignites the environmentalist in her that goes: “Why the fuck would you do that?”

 

“Practising,” Sooyoung replies lowly, obviously more focused on the task at hand. The task being trying (very hard, but failing) to nail a phoenix on the top of what would be Jiwoo’s cappuccino-- except Jiwoo isn’t even coming today, and Sooyoung is wasting a lot of milk trying to remake and perfect the design. “It’s for Jiwoo,” she says, as if Jungeun couldn’t already guess that.

 

“Sucker,” Jungeun tuts.

 

After a few more tries, the phoenix comes out perfect. Sooyoung chugs it in celebration. Jungeun can only watch with a growing grimace.

 

* * *

 

Their second meeting comes much later than Jungeun would have liked. Two weeks after that one very wet, very cold day, a familiar voice orders a double espresso.

 

That’s two weeks of watching Jiwoo visit the cafe daily, even on the days Sooyoung isn’t working, just to grab her new favourite drink. Jungeun made sure to write her name on the paper cup down as different variations of "stupid bitch.” Sooyoung wasn’t too happy about that.

 

"A double espresso, please. And uh, hey,” the customer greets first.

 

"Hi,” Jungeun smiles. She gets to work, taking a little extra effort in every step. The espresso is a delicate drink, if anything. If it’s bad, the girl can tell straight away.

 

And Jungeun, head barista at Lunar Specialty Coffee and acclaimed coffee-hater, does not make bad coffee.

 

She grinds just the right amount of beans, tamps the grounds with just the right amount of strength, and turns her back after pressing a few buttons on the machine with just the right amount of courage to make conversation.

 

It’s not the customer service smile this time. It’s a genuine one. "So, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

 

"I haven’t been here in a while,” the girls laughs, brushing back behind her ear the shoulder-length hair that moves vividly with her laughter. "That wasn’t a very good first meeting, if I do say so myself.”

 

"Dripping all over my floor? Not the best first impression, no. But I’d forgive anyone with a pretty face.”

 

Jungeun hopes the girl doesn’t catch the very unintentional innuendo in her words. She smiles innocently while the girl laughs, probably more taken aback by the compliment.

 

"It was just a bad day for me.”

 

“Could tell. I hope things are better for you now.”

 

"Well I found good coffee on a shitty day, so yeah. Things are better.”

 

"Nothing like a second impression to make up for the first, right? Not that I’m saying there’s anything to make up for...”

 

There’s a familiar silence just after the espresso stops coming out the spouts. Jungeun turns back to the coffee machine, letting out a breath full of nerves. “pretty girl” is just a synonym for "Jungeun’s kryptonite”. She reaches for the glass of espresso.

 

"Well, I had to come back! I didn’t want it to be our last meeting.” Jungeun halts in her movements.

 

_Oh?_

 

"You guys make great coffee here.”

 

_Ah._

 

She turns back with the customer service grin-- sue her, it’s either she puts up a cheery facade or she accidentally expose how badly she’s wanted to hear from “pretty girl from two thursdays ago”. _Who was she? Why was she crying? Why did she walk back out into the rain like that? Did she get pneumonia?_

 

"We do have great coffee.” She hands her the glass, and feels their fingertips brush ever so slightly. The girl hums in wonderment, examining the thirty-millilitre extraction.

 

"Yum,” is all she says, before taking a sip of it. Hell of a practiced coffee drinker she is. Jungeun notices that she doesn’t even flinch at the complete lack of good flavour in the espresso.

 

"Not going to lie, I thought you were going to down it all.”

 

The girl laughs, taking another sip, eyes widening yet again in pleasant surprise, before turning to tease the barista: "Is this how you usually talk to customers?”

 

This is where Jungeun’s brain reaches a T-junction.

 

 _"No, just the pretty ones.”_ Too flirty.

 

 _"No.”_ Come on Jungeun, you don’t want to just end the conversation!

 

"No, just the ones who leave an impression.” Okay, pretty good. Espresso girl snickers, "You don’t even know my name--” she squints. “--Jungeun.”

 

“Maybe if you ordered literally anything else and I had to write your name on the cup…”

 

She takes a third and final sip. Espresso girl places the glass on the counter, pushing it towards the barista. Jungeun ignores it.

 

"It’s Haseul. You can just ask, you know?”

 

"Got it, Miss Haseul.”

 

"Just Haseul is fine.”

 

"Alright, Haseul. How’s your day been?”

 

Haseul tilts her head curiously, "Funny. I thought you guys only made conversation while waiting for the coffee to be ready. My day’s been okay. I have a shitty professor, so I kind of bummed my finals this morning, but that’s alright. I’ll just write him a really mean feedback form.”

 

"We make conversation when people seem like they’re willing to make conversation. Ugh, shitty professors. Can’t relate. Never went to college. You want another?”

 

"Baristas don’t just need to learn the art of coffee-making, I see. Damn, I was going to ask what your major was. Mine’s chemistry by the way. Brutal. Also, yes I do want another.” Jungeun turns to start the coffee grinder. Haseul adds with another soft laugh, “Can we not have _three_ conversations in one conversation?”

 

"Three in one,” Jungeun pulls a face. "That’s every barista’s nightmare.”

 

It takes a second for Haseul to understand the very layered joke (Honestly, why did Jungeun even make it? What if she doesn’t laugh?), but when she does, she lets out a sound better than the coffee Jungeun makes. And that’s, in Haseul’s words--

 

"That is sick. Amazing. Show-stopping. Wonderful.”

 

Jungeun grins. "That’s it?”

 

Without missing a beat, Haseul continues, "It’s not too bitter, or sour, or sweet. It doesn’t taste burnt, which, honestly makes it so much more pleasant than the espresso that coffeeshop down the road makes. Can’t believe you guys have been here this whole time.”

 

"Only a year. You know a lot about coffee, don’t you?” if Jungeun’s impressed, she shows it.

 

"Too much,” Haseul replies. Her second sip of the drink is also her last, and she gently sets the glass onto Jungeun’s outstretched hand. "I’m sorry, I gotta go, I have another final coming up in like… two hours.”

 

"You have an exam at seven in the evening?”

 

Haseul nods with a grimace.

 

"Well, I’m always here if you need another.” _We, Jungeun, we. The coffeehouse is always here, not you._

 

"Thanks for the coffee.”

 

Haseul leaves, not without leaving an imprint in Jungeun’s mind. Hypothetically, say, if she were to have a list of favourite customers, Haseul would be damn near the top already. Also, _shit_. She forgot to make Haseul pay for the two coffees she drank.

 

 _Whatever_. Jungeun starts the machines mindlessly, and makes a third double espresso in a row.

 

Haseul’s right. Her coffee is a balance of all things a coffee should taste like.

 

Still, it tastes just like burnt caramel-- bitter, a little sweet, and the overpowering flavour of high expectations being subverted. It tastes kind of like disappointment. Jungeun throws it away after getting another sip out of it.

 

* * *

 

"Why do you like that shit? Be honest.”

 

Jiwoo looks up curiously from her coffee, blinking hard. She sets down her mug slowly, pondering, and Jungeun can see the latte art she poured deform slightly where Jiwoo had placed her lips. A swan, she had requested, because it reminded her of Sooyoung. Jungeun’s definitely curious as to why an animal so often synonymous for elegance could be placed in the same stratosphere as the clumsy barista, but she’s not about to press a love-stricken Jiwoo for answers.

 

"What, coffee?” Jungeun nods. Jiwoo takes a second to ponder the question seriously. "It’s warm and it’s sweet, but not too sweet. It wakes me up. It’s uh… it… oh, you don’t wanna hear it.”

 

Jungeun scoffs, "Why? I’ve known you for ten years. There’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

 

"Are you sure?”

 

"Are you going to go off about how coffee reminds you of Sooyoung, and that’s why you like it?”

 

Jiwoo coughs, flustered. "No! It’s not just-- well it is mostly because of her but like…” her voice trails off.

 

"Let me hear it. I want to hear it. Beside, I won’t judge.”

 

"Of course you won’t. It’s just-- well, you know the both of us. We don’t-- we don’t have much. We’re both broke, both working while studying, but we both want a future together, right? So we made this agreement to not buy each other expensive gifts.”

 

Jiwoo raises her left hand. There’s a ring sitting on her index finger. "She got me this for three thousand won and cried because she thought I deserved more than a cheap ring she got from the market.” Jiwoo’s laugh is a wet sound, and gets her voice into an octave lower than it usually is. "That’s her way of loving me and I can’t ask for anything more. My way of loving her is loving the things she loves. And that’s…”

 

"Ah,” the realisation that she’s been subconsciously avoiding this whole time, sets in. “Coffee.”

 

"Yeah, it kind of became our thing. It does taste good, though. I do like it now. Took me a lot longer than she thinks it did, but don’t tell her that. She tries so hard to surprise me with something new on my coffee everyday and it’s cute. Also, if you ever catch her practising her latte art, just help her. I think she’s struggling to nail some complicated design that she wants to show me but can’t. Loser.”

 

"But she’s your loser,” Jungeun says it for her, mirroring the smile on Jiwoo’s face. "God, that was-- that was nice to hear.”

 

There’s a lot that goes unsaid between them both, perhaps even some unresolved feelings that they didn’t want to complicate by acknowledging. But none of that matters now that Jiwoo and Sooyoung found each other, and Jungeun can watch them fall deeper in love with each other. She’s never seen Jiwoo happier, and maybe, she’s learning to let go as well. Jungeun smiles again at that thought.

 

She might be a grumpy, loveless and coffee-hating barista, yes, but at least she’s not grumpy, loveless, coffee-hating _and_ pining after her best friend. Not anymore.

 

Jiwoo moves to leave, but not without the mandatory cross-the-counter hug shes insists they conduct in the name of best-friendship.

 

“Can we hang out? Tonight, just the two of us.”

 

"You know I can’t say no to you,” Jungeun snickers. "Want another coffee to go?”

 

" _God_ , yes.”

 

The machine whirs. Jungeun watches the milk spin around in her pitcher.

 

"So did I answer your question?”

 

"In your own way, I guess you did.”

 

* * *

 

"A double-- oh hey! It’s you. I came by yesterday but you weren’t here.”

 

Tearing her eyes away from the pile of cash on the counter, Jungeun answers, "I get Mondays off.” Her smile grows at the sight of a very well put together Haseul. "What was your order again? Might have forgotten.”

 

"Oh, shut up. I’m not that forgettable,” Haseul teases back. Her smile falters when she catches Jungeun reaching for a large mug. "Wait, you do know my order, right?”

 

"Yeah, Miss Double Espresso. I won’t forget you, or that look on your face. Priceless,” Jungeun jokes, carefully placing the mug back where it came from. Haseul shakes her head, laughing anyway.

 

Jungeun gets to work. Just as she hands the glass to her, a customer walks through the front door.

 

"Sorry, I’ll--”

 

"No! No worries, go back to work.” Haseul backs away with her coffee before Jungeun can say anything else, and a giant of a man takes her place in front of the counter. There’s barely any time to register just how tiny Haseul actually is before her customer service gene kicks in.

 

"Good afternoon! What can I get for you?”

 

"A double espresso, please.”

 

Jungeun raises her eyebrows at the familiar order, keying it in and making it anyway.

 

"I bet you don’t get that order a lot,” the guy says, a smugness in his tone that makes him instantly dislikeable in Jungeun’s eyes. "It’s like beer. A _man’s_ drink.”

 

"On the contrary, my dude,” Haseul jumps in before Jungeun can open her mouth to refute. "Lots of women I know love drinking espresso. But you know what they love more?”

 

The guys snorts, muscles rippling as he crosses his arms. Jungeun reckons his biceps are the size of Haseul’s thighs-- not that she has noticed the thickness of Haseul’s thighs, no. Just figuratively. "What, caramel frappuccinos with whipped cream from Starbucks?”

 

A small smile settles on her face. "When their men don’t _reek_ of misogyny.” Jungeun almost doubles over in laughter, holding it in as she hands the the poor guy his glass.

 

"I think I’ll have that to-go,” he stutters out, maintaining eye contact with a fiery Haseul, who knocks the coffee back like she would a shot. Jungeun tries really, really hard not to laugh.

 

"Have a nice day, man,” Jungeun snickers, handing him his paper cup.

 

"Have a shit day!” Haseul calls, watching the dorito-shaped man leave the store. “Men. Always getting on my nerves.”

 

"You’re really something, Haseul.”

 

Haseul only winks, placing the empty glass on the counter and pushing it towards the barista. Jungeun ignores it. She playfully asks, already knowing the answer to her question: "Another?”

 

"You know it.”

 

"It’s a _man’s_ drink, you know? You sure you can handle it?”

 

"Jungeun, please make my drink before I become a misogynist myself.”

 

Jungeun lets her laughter fill the room, ignoring the strange looks some customers send her way. They don’t matter to her-- not when Haseul reciprocates her laugh with a hearty giggle of her own. They can be however loud they want.

 

She manages four sips out of her mandatory post-Haseul double espresso this time around.

 

* * *

 

The wait between each of Haseul’s visits get shorter, and eventually the girl is going there daily.

 

Jungeun hasn’t felt this same eagerness to make coffee for someone since… her last significant other.

 

Her heart races for more reasons than one every single time the bell by the door chimes, and Haseul reveals herself to be the one behind it.

 

The espresso doesn’t taste or feel that bitter anymore. She manages half a glass of it just three short weeks after meeting Haseul.

 

* * *

 

Haseul eventually wriggles her way to the top of Jungeun’s extremely hypothetical list of favourite customers. The girl swings by more often than not, no longer caught up in the frenzy of schoolwork and examinations.

 

Jungeun learns a lot about the girl. Stories she pieces over days all add up to the big picture that is Jo Haseul. She learns that it’s extremely out of the way for her to grab a coffee on the way to the laboratory, that the lab is where she spends most of her free days, and also that she’s working for her professor because she think he’s Marie Curie reincarnated.

 

But things like how Haseul is an extremely curious and confrontational person, Jungeun learns on the job, much like how she started making coffee in the first place.

 

"So what’s your favourite coffee?” _See? Curious and confrontational._

 

"Don’t have one,” Jungeun replies smoothly, only feeling personally attacked when Haseul gives her a look of pure horror. "Yo… it’s not that deep… I just hate coffee, that’s all.”

 

"You just hate-- oh my god. It is that deep! That’s like if I asked a musician what their favourite song was and they said they hated music. A _musician_ hating _music_ . Literally, when Carly Rae Jepsen’s discography exists?! That’s _bonkers_.”

 

"That’s oddly specific. I’m kind of scared.”

 

"Just don’t say anything bad about Carly Rae Jepsen and you’re good,” Haseul supplies thoughtfully. Jungeun doesn’t let slip the fact that she’d once played Carly Rae Jepsen for the whole day at the cafe. "But that wasn’t the point. The point is that you’re a barista that hates coffee. I’m just... surprised that you exist.”

 

"I mean-- if i’m good at my job and I like making coffee, then why not? And what’s so good about coffee anyway? Please enlighten me.”

 

"Well it tastes good--”

 

"False.”

 

Haseul seems taken aback by Jungeun playfully cutting her off. She’s snarky when she snaps back, "Don’t cut me off! It tastes good, _fact_ . You just don’t know how to appreciate it. You guys do a medium to dark roast here, right? Well, _fact_ , in medium to light coffee brews, the main source of bitterness is from chlorogenic acid lactones. Also, _fact_ : in dark roasted coffees, the breakdown products of these chlorogenic acid lactones has an increasing effect on the bitterness of the espresso-- and I’ve lost you.”

 

"God, sorry,” Jungeun blinks hard to snap herself out of her daze. There’s a certain tingling right at the part her heart beats against her ribcage seeing Haseul go hard on scientific facts. She doesn’t have the heart to tell Haseul that espresso is much more stomachable for her nowadays. "I didn’t mean to, but you should know I didn’t go to college for a reason. That reason being I find all that mumbo-jumbo boring as shit.”

 

"Well that was only the first part out of five! You’re going to get lost on your quest to enlightenment and it’s not even going to be my fault.”

 

Jungeun shrugs. "Whatever. _Fact_ : coffee tastes like ass. Like a shit pissed on another shit, had sex with it and then made a shit baby. Coffee tastes like that. A _shit baby_.”

 

"You don’t even drink frappes from Starbucks?”

 

"Oh I drink those!”

 

"Okay so we’re going somewhere--”

 

Jungeun holds a finger up dramatically for the big reveal: "With extra sugar syrup.”

 

"You’re a monster,” Haseul deadpans.

 

Jungeun’s reply is a shrug of her shoulders, before she’s pulling out her diabetes-inducing drink (in case you forgot: chocolate milk tea, less ice, 100% sugar level, and three times the normal amount of pearls) hidden inside a discreet brown paper bag. She takes a long sip from it. Haseul sighs dramatically.

 

* * *

 

As Jungeun’s best friend, Jiwoo is refreshing and warm; like the cup of coffee her father likes to drink before starting the day.

 

As Jungeun’s other best friend, Jinsoul is like the itch she can’t ever reach on her back; like the maddening coffee-tainted hot cocoa she had to drink every morning because she used the coffee maker after her dad did.

 

But the saving grace in the decades-long friendship between these two souls that simply aren’t compatible with each other comes with how they know each other well enough to complete each other’s sandwiches (you know it’s real when you know someone well enough to recite their complicated subway order). Jinsoul knows Jungeun as well as the girl knows coffee, which is quite a lot. And Jungeun knows Jinsoul as well as Jinsoul seems to know how to run a business, which is more than what meets the eye.

 

So when Jinsoul tells her one day that she looks _"too happy to be true”_ , you know she means it.

 

"Hyejoo tells me you’ve been smiling a lot recently. Sooyoung too. That’s so weird,” Jinsoul comments, taking a sip out of her piping hot latte. It’s not just the loud slurp that causes Jungeun to pull a face.

 

"You guys gossip about me?!”

 

"Well, only when it’s important. Seriously, when Hyejoo and Hyunjin were telling me about how you had a giggling fit over a text that day, I almost had a heart attack. Hyunjin sounded dead serious when she asked me if you needed professional help. Said she knew a guy.”

 

"Hyunjin?!” The part-timer that does nothing but try to perfect three-dimensional foam art of all matters of cats jumping out her coffee. She usually does nothing else but eat, sit around as Jungeun compulsively cleans, or give unsolicited commentary on Jungeun’s music taste (It’s usually: “ _Play James Arthur one more time and I’ll jump you”_ or _“Seriously, Jungeun, I’ll strangle you for real if I have to listen to ‘Empty Space’ one more fucking time. I’ve had the Kill Bill series on replay since I was born_.”) Truly an impeccable feat for her to have achieved but noticing anything "off” about Jungeun, really.

 

Jinsoul shakes her head. "You do seem a little livelier. It’s annoying. What happened to our plan of being the old miserable spinsters who chased teenagers and pigeons off our porch together?”

 

"That was a dream as unrealistic as us ever being able to afford having a porch. Do you know how high property prices are lately?”

 

Ever the wet blanket Jungeun is. Jinsoul becomes partly convinced that Hyejoo and Hyunjin are pulling her leg. But then again, Jungeun knows that Jinsoul knows her well enough to catch on eventually.

 

And by eventually, she means a few hours later, because that’s when Jinsoul first sees Jungeun’s twinkling half-crescent eyes and signature crooked grin. _Oh man._

 

Jungeun makes it two-thirds the way down the espresso glass. Bearing witness to the sight, Jinsoul whispers under her breath to no one in particular: "She’s a goner, that one.”

 

* * *

 

Jungeun finds the days where Haseul doesn’t patron the store dull and uninspiring. Sure, she still has her regular customers, favourite customers #2 through to #10, even Jiwoo, Sooyoung and the other part-timers to keep the mood lively. But even then, something feels amiss. Like an espresso without the bitter undertones, a latte without the milk, or Sooyoung’s brightest smile without Jiwoo there to see it.

 

She starts closing up the dull and uninspiring store on this dull and uninspiring day fifteen minutes before it should. No one else is going to come in.

 

Or so she thinks.

 

Exactly seven minutes before the coffeeshop is supposed to be closed for the day, a head of red hair walks in, a wave of nostalgia and shocked confusion in tow.

 

" _Yeon_ ,” she lets the nickname slip before she can help it. She catches herself, clearing her throat and flashing a smile. "Doyeon! Hi.”

 

"Hey,” Doyeon replies, looking a little star-struck, if anything else. "I just-- I came for a coffee.”

 

The barista gulps, feeling her grip of the broomstick weaken. "Your usual?”

 

Doyeon laughs a little awkwardly under her breath, "As you remember it, yes.”

 

To Jungeun’s credit, she tries, really tries to instill some normalcy into the situation and diffuse the tension. But the conversations start and end in her mind, never leaving her lips, and before she knows it, she already has Doyeon’s drink ready for her in a takeaway cup.

 

"Vanilla latte, extra shot.”

 

"And the--”

 

"With the sugar syrup, yes.”

 

"You remembered,” she says, so fondly that Jungeun gets drawn into the memory of her saying it the first time she remembered her order. She lets herself indulge in it, but only for a second, before putting on the customer service smile. She hands the coffee over, eager to end the nerve-wrecking exchange. Doyeon reaches-- lets her fingers run a little too far along Jungeun’s hand to grab at the cup.

 

"Thank you,” Doyeon mutters with a low voice, and it’s all too inviting. "Jungeun, I really missed this…”

 

She barely has time to process what Doyeon means. All she sees is Doyeon leaning in, closer and closer… before her subconscious (the one that had to unlearn automatically drawing herself closer to Doyeon) kicks in, reeling her back two, three, four steps in shock.

 

"What are you doing?!”

 

"Fuck, I-- I don’t know,” Doyeon mumbles. "Jungeun, I don’t know.”

 

"That doesn’t answer my question. Why’d you do that?”

 

Doyeon’s eyes drop to the counter separating them, the distance between them now that seems so, so huge. "I missed you. I still miss--”

 

"You… you shouldn’t.” Jungeun tilts her head backwards, sighing outwardly. This is not a situation she wants to get caught up in. They’ve been over for four months. “Please go, Doyeon. Please.”

 

"I’m sorry--”

 

“Please don’t come back here,” Jungeun says, hoping her request sounded enough like a plea for Doyeon to get the memo. _I don’t want to get back together with you_ , she telepathically sends, ignoring the churn in her stomach and the squeezing in her chest when Doyeon bites her bottom lip. She’s trying hard not to sob, that much Jungeun can tell. Jungeun turns away, seeking refuge in the coffee machine, away from the very person she first loved making coffee for.

 

She hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps getting softer, the sweeping of the door, and then silence. Doyeon’s gone.

 

She makes herself a double espresso, convincing herself that it’s just to check the taste of the coffee. _Who are you trying to fool?_ She’s searching the drink for answers she doesn’t know the questions to, and what results is a mouthful of bitter, bitter, bitter. She throws it all barely after half a sip. All her progress trying to get to the bottom of the espresso glass-- undone, just like that.

 

Jungeun strides towards her phone, fiddles around, and turns the speaker to the loudest setting. "Tears Dry On Their Own” floods the entire coffeehouse, drowning out every thought of Doyeon, flushing away the feeling of her eyes on her body, her hands on her hips, her lips on her neck…

 

Bitter, bitter, bitter. That’s all that’s left of them.

 

"So we are HIS-TO-RY! Your shadow CO-VERS me! The sky above a-BLAAAAAZE-- YOW! HOLY FUCK!”

 

“Calm down, Amy Winehouse… just me,” Haseul says through a fit of incoherent giggling. "Any reason for you to be singing a break-up song so loudly at closing time?”

 

Amy Winehouse fades, and the soft instrumental of John Mayer fills the room. Jungeun watches Haseul shift her weight to lean more comfortably against the glass doorway. How long has she been there? She turns to her phone, lowering the volume of the sound system and making sure the girl can hear her.

 

“My ex came to visit.”

 

"Oh.” Haseul gasps in surprise.

 

"I chased her out,” Jungeun mutters, "She tried to kiss me.”

 

" _Oh_ ,” she says, more startled now at the revelation. "What?! Are you alright? Did you--”

 

"No, no, I didn’t let her. Also, better, after belting to Amy Winehouse and getting caught by you… I think I’m more embarrassed than anything, really.”

 

"If it comforts you, it was a pretty good show.”

 

Jungeun whines a little, kicking her foot back and forth, unsure what else there is to say.

 

"Do you wanna talk about it? Or--”

 

"No. I just want to forget about it. Her. _Everything_.”

 

Haseul pushes herself off the glass, taking a good three steps to place herself right before Jungeun, big smile, confidence and all. She pauses for a beat, then two, and at the very right moment: _"Gravity,”_ she sings, _"Is working against me.”_

 

“What are you doing?” Jungeun asks softly, consciously ignoring the stark difference in the way she had spoken the same words to Doyeon.

 

“Helping you forget. _And gravity,_ ” is Haseul’s answer. She takes Jungeun’s hand, putting the broomstick aside, singing, _“Wants to bring me down.”_

 

Jungeun lets herself get tugged around, laughing to Haseul’s melodious voice. A twirl here, a tango there. Slow-dancing on a Wednesday evening to John Mayer probably wasn’t part of her plan when she woke up this morning, but Haseul happened, and Haseul can’t be stopped.

 

She’s forgetting.

 

The haphazardly-placed broom slides off the side of the chair and thuds on the ground, causing them both to jump at the sound.

 

"Gravity is surely working against the broom,” Jungeun jokes.

 

"Shut up, you’re ruining the moment.”

 

And what a moment it was: Haseul’s chin on her shoulder, Jungeun’s right hand clasped in her left, and her left hand gently resting on Haseul’s hip. She’s barely any taller, so she tries not to breathe too hard just in case Haseul is ticklish around her neck. The girl stops singing, indeed to let them indulge in the moment. Mayer owns the room even with his soft voice, and Jungeun closes her eyes, soaking in all of it-- the fluttering of her heart, the softness of the flesh on Haseul’s hips, the soft hair brushing against her cheeks, and the swaying of their bodies in synchronisation.

 

_"Oh twice as much ain't twice as good.”_

 

"He’s so wrong. A double espresso always beats a single espresso.”

 

The hilarity and absurdity of it all baffles her. Jungeun chuckles alongside the girl in her arms, asking curiously, "And why’s that?”

 

"There’s more espresso in a double, duh. Which reminds me,” Haseul pulls away to look right in Jungeun’s eyes. "I was here for my coffee!”

 

"You came in when I was closing the store! What if i’d closed the machine?”

 

"Well you haven’t, and my timing was clearly intentional. You’re a rock,” Haseul reprimands while shaking her head. She lightly taps Jungeun’s nose with a finger just as the song ends. " _Boop_. Mayer time is over. Now make your favourite customer her coffee.”

 

"Yeah, yeah. Favourite customer,” Jungeun remarks with a lopsided grin, skipping behind the counter to make the usual. Her forearm brushes against something so hot that would usually cause her to pull back in shock, but she’s so caught up in feeling giddily happy that she barely registers it, barely flinches.

 

It’s only after she closes the store, a solid two hours after opening hours have ended, that Jungeun realises Haseul’s intentions for coming at a time she knew no other customers would.

 

* * *

 

"You’ve been less grumpy lately,” Hyejoo tells her one day, "You’re happy and talkative. That’s so weird. I mean, good for you! But that’s so weird.”

 

Jungeun groans, not just because the paper cups she’d just stacked up perfectly have fallen and spilled all over the floor. “Can’t your school start already? I’m losing my mind even with you working here only three times a week.”

 

"I told you a million times that I’m waiting for uni to start!”

 

"Okay and? I don’t care. Go back to school.” She ignores the crack in her knees when she bends down to pick the cups up. Even her knee is being grumpy and acting up. Hyejoo squats to meet her eyes, but doesn’t do anything productive to help her. She throws a paper cup at the part-timer. "Hey, minimum wage. Help me pick them up.”

 

"Don’t call me minimum wage! Ugh,” Hyejoo says simply, managing to pick a single cup up before starting again, "Forget it, you’re grumpy today. I hope your favourite customer never comes!”

 

"I’m docking your pay.”

 

"I’m already working minimum wage. Also you can’t do that, you’re just the head barista!”

 

"Jinsoul can’t say shit when I’m the one running the cafe and she’s the one who appears only once a week.”

 

"Fuck,” Hyejoo whines at the mention of their boss. "But she’s nice, right?”

 

"Grumpy and…” she hesitates, thinking if the second part to her personality still rings true. "Loveless, just like me.”

 

 _Loveless_. Maybe not.

 

"Damn it,” the part-timer cries. Jungeun throws another paper cup at the pouting girl, laughing away at her indignance. Hyejoo is funny.

 

* * *

 

It was bound to happen. Haseul remembered her schedule by heart and made it routine to visit whenever she was closing. Jungeun should have seen this coming. Not just the having feelings for Haseul part, but also… this.

 

“Can you show me how to do it?” Haseul, from behind the counter, calls. Jungeun makes the mistake of turning back to look, catching a glimpse of Haseul resting both her elbows on the counter, and her head between two fists. Her cheeks squish together adorably, and of course Jungeun has no choice but to beckon her over. Haseul crosses the threshold, causing Jungeun and her both to break several rules at once, all without a care in the world nonetheless.

 

"First I grind the beans. And then I load the portafilter with the grounds, which is this weird handle thing I have right here--”

 

Jungeun explains as she methodically works her way through the steps. “--now I tamp it down with a bit of strength.”

 

"With that butt plug looking thing?”

 

Jungeun goes speechless for a second, before recognising the lilt in Haseul’s voice and the glint behind her eyes. She’s not serious.

 

"Yeah, with the butt plug looking thing. Shut up. Anyway, now’s the fun part. I lock the portafilter into place, and… wait, you can do this part. Just press that button.”

 

Haseul’s voice is innocent when she asks, "This one?” _Wrong button._ Jungeun doesn't catch the mischief, and treats Haseul’s mock confusion with genuine sincerity. It gets Haseul what she wants though, which was Jungeun’s hand on hers, guiding her towards the right button.

 

"This one.” A firm nod from the barista allows Haseul the confidence to press the button, until Jungeun scrambles to find a glass to catch the espresso. Rookie mistake.

 

“My bad,” she breathes, heaving a sigh of relief when the first drop lands squarely at the bottom of the espresso glass. Haseul chuckles lowly at her antsiness. Jungeun can’t tell if it’s the boiling coffee machine that’s making her feel hot, or the very close proximity of one Jo Haseul.

 

Thirty seconds go by in a hot flash. Jungeun focuses her eyes on the liquid produced from the spouts, making sure that everything from the flow, to the timing, colour and smell of the espresso go right.

 

Now all that’s left to do, is taste.

 

“Please,” Jungeun offers the glass politely, even going so far as to place both her hands behind her back. She’s eagerly awaiting feedback and she shows it, not bothering to hide how she’s bouncing a little on her toes in excitement. "How is it?”

 

“Perfect, as always,” Haseul gets out before even taking a sip. Jungeun tuts her playfully. She wants real feedback. Haseul sips it slowly, letting it rest on the tip of her tongue before it rolls down her throat. "Little sour, a little bitter. But there’s a hint of caramel hiding just behind the first impression you get of it. It’s really nice. I’m sure you’ve heard that before.”

 

"God, all I taste is bitterness.”

 

Haseul holds a hand to her chest, "You poor thing. Well, you have to let it simmer a little in your mouth. The heat of it sometimes overwhelms everything else, and all you get is that bitter aftertaste you hate so much. Try it!”

 

Jungeun tries it, mimicking what she’d seen Haseul do. But it’s the same bitterness that has plagued her entire career, amplified more so after Doyeon’s surprise visit, and now slightly muted in the presence of Haseul. She still doesn’t like it.

 

Haseul drinks the rest of it for her. They make another one. This time, she lets Haseul take the reins. Step by step, Jungeun guides her hands without figuratively breaking a sweat. Physically, her forehead is littered by beads of perspiration she sneaks some time to wipe away in the midst of Haseul’s messy confusion.

 

The espresso checks out every box: flow, timing, colour, smell. But the taste...

 

"Wow, this is _really_ nice.”

 

Haseul doesn’t voice it out like an accusation, but Jungeun treats it like one.

 

"You’re only saying that ‘cos you made that! I make perfectly good espresso.”

 

"Yeah, but mine’s better,” Haseul says between multiple small sips. "It’s sweeter. Lighter. Not as obviously bitter as yours.”

 

Jungeun rolls her eyes, not believing for even a second that Haseul wasn’t just messing with her. "You’re gonna have to let me have a taste of that.”

 

It seems like Haseul takes a second to register her words. And when she does, she drinks it all in one go, never taking her eyes from Jungeun. She steps into her space, burning a temperature so high Jungeun feels it even with the inches between them. It’s definitely not the coffee machine.

 

Haseul’s breathless when she asks, "Do you still want a taste?” All too brazen, yet all too timid, all at once.

 

Jungeun’s answer is a desperate nod, before the feverish space between them is closed. Lips press hesitantly against lips. Eyes flutter close. Haseul reaches blindly to place the glass back on the counter, her hand now free to roam. Hips, waist, neck and jaw-- she checks them out on a mental list like Jungeun would an espresso.

 

It’s slow, so painfully slow. Jungeun feels like she’s had three heart attacks with the annoying ache in her chest, squeezing and releasing, hardly letting her catch her breath. She’s forgetting to breathe. Haseul’s hand gently cradles her jaw, barely letting her touch linger hard or long. Everything is so soft and tender it hurts. It physically hurts _everywhere_ , and in the best way possible.

 

A new dimension basically opens for her when Haseul bites down on her bottom lip. Haseul’s tongue burns from the scalding espresso she’s just conveniently threw down her throat, and the heat takes Jungeun by surprise. But not as much as the taste on her tongue, because _this--_ this is what Haseul means by sweet.

 

It’s the best coffee she’s ever had. She chases it over and over again, pulling the girl closer and closer by the waist.

 

Jungeun vaguely registers the music in the background shifting to a brighter tune. Carly Rae Jepsen, how fitting. She can’t help but smile into the kiss. It’s contagious, clearly, because Haseul’s teeth end up clashing against hers, and they dissolve into a fit of soft giggles.

 

"One more?”

 

Haseul nods, and Jungeun goes to work quickly. Thirty seconds proves too long, and Jungeun has Haseul locked in her arms way before the button is even pressed. They forget about that one when it trickles out, and it expires. They wind up having to make another. And then one more. And a last one, just for good measure. Haseul drinks them one by one, and Jungeun tastes them all.

 

* * *

 

Jungeun blames the sudden spike of caffeine in her body for the way her hands can’t stop shaking.

 

But for her heart racing deep into the night and keeping her awake, she blames Haseul.

 

The appeal of coffee beyond just the taste-- she gets it now, maybe. The fact that something so subjective-- like taste-- can be a common interest for two people who, without the coffeehouse, would otherwise have never crossed paths comes as a stunning revelation.

 

 _Fuck_. She really, really wants to kiss Haseul again.

 

* * *

 

Sooyoung and Jiwoo are lovely as individuals.

 

But as a couple, they’re the  “we irritating” meme at best, and the vine of the couple making out in public with “IS THAT ALLOWED?!” as background music at worst. Right now, they’re right in the middle of the spectrum-- not that sweet, not that much of an eye-sore. Perfectly balanced, as all coffees should be.

 

_Three minutes till Haseul is scheduled to arrive. I’m gonna need an out if I want to leave early._

 

Jungeun wanders by the coffee machine, fiddling noisily with the pitchers. She turns on the grinder and loads the grounds in a portafilter. The coffeehouse is empty. Jiwoo’s sitting on the baristas’ side of the counter, sandwiched by Sooyoung’s arms on the counter. The couple are so absorbed in each other that they don’t realise that Jungeun, acclaimed coffee-hater, is making herself a coffee.

 

She slurps the double espresso with as much gusto a neglected friend could muster. Jiwoo just laughs and leans into her girlfriend’s body at something she said.

 

She clears her throat, making a huge deal out of drinking from the espresso glass. Jiwoo laughs at something else Sooyoung says.

 

"I like coffee now,” Jungeun blurts out impatiently, finally stealing the attention of the couple in front of her. Their mindless chatter about work and school is replaced by stunned silence. Jiwoo lets her jaw hang open almost comically wide, and Sooyoung’s already two steps ahead-- furrowing her eyebrows and questioning the high heavens. "What? How?!”

 

Jungeun shrugs, lips drawing upwards. The bells chime as the door is pushed open. _Right on time._

 

“I found myself a coffee lover.” Jungeun picks up her bag, turning to Sooyoung and throwing a set of keys at her. She catches them gingerly, confused. Jiwoo also looks on with widened eyes. “Close up today please!”

 

A hand intertwines with hers. She doesn’t trust herself to linger long enough to hear Sooyoung’s protests about not being paid enough for the job, and prepares herself to run.

 

For how long, she doesn’t know. But with Haseul by her side and coffee in her system, maybe, just maybe, she could run forever.

 

* * *

 

“Guess it’s just you and me,” Jiwoo says, not particularly surprised seeing Jungeun running off into the literal sunset with Haseul.

 

When she turns back, she’s confronted by a familiar look.

 

“I have the keys, and we’re... alone.”

 

Jiwoo gulps.

 

**Author's Note:**

> to be continued (hopefully) ;)
> 
> in the meantime, talk to me!  
> twt: @2jinverse


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